Railway privatisation in Argentina

A Metropolitano train in La Plata.

TBA operated Mitre and Sarmiento lines.

Ferrovías train at Grand Bourg.

Buenos Aires Underground unit.

Ferrocentral ran trains to Tucumán.

Tren de las Sierras served by Ferrocentral.

Ferrobaires was created by the government of Buenos Aires.

The Southern Fuegian Railway was revived in 1994.

In March 1991 the government separated the urban passenger rail services and metro operating within the city of Buenos Aires from the rest of the rail network, and to this end created the holding company Ferrocarriles Metropolitanos S.A. (FEMESA). Whilst the freight concessionaires were expected to make a profit, it was recognized that the operation of these services would require public subsidy. Concessions were granted to the bidder who would require the lowest subsidy. Four companies bid successfully for the seven lines originally operated by the six divisions of Ferrocarriles Argentinos, together with the Subte, as shown below:

The concessions were mainly for 10 years, with an optional 10-year extension, except for the Metro and the Línea Urquiza which were for an initial term of 20 years. As in the case of the freight concessions, the government maintained ownership of the assets, whilst the concessionaires undertook the operation of their services as described in their original bids. Maximum fares were set by the government but were subject to automatic increases according to service quality and the prevailing rate of inflation. Financial penalties would be levied if agreed levels of service were not achieved.

In spite of these companies receiving large government subsidies,[13] the services operated by Metropolitano deteriorated to a point where the concession for the operation of Línea San Martín was revoked in 2004 and concessions for the operation of the other two lines by the company were revoked in 2007.[14][15][16][17] All three lines were subsequently operated by transitional private consortium UGOFE.[18]

Trenes de Buenos Aires operated the Mitre and Sarmiento lines until the concession was revoked after the Once rail disaster on February 22, 2012, at Once Station, Buenos Aires, in which 51 people died and at least 703 people were injured,[19] TBA was placed under federal intervention on February 28; its concessions to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines were ultimately revoked on May 24.[20] After the cancellation of the contact, both lines were taken over by transitional consortium Unidad de Gestión Operativa Mitre Sarmiento (UGOMS). Metrovías took over the operation of the Buenos Aires Subte, the Buenos Aires Premetro, and the Urquiza Line in 1994, and established an earlier closing time of 23:00 on all three systems in order to conduct extensive maintenance and reconstruction, which was retained even after the reconstruction was completed.[21] Numerous proposals to extend the operating hours of all three Metrovías-operated services have failed.[22]

When UGOFE and UGOMS were dissolved, Corredores Ferroviarios (a company part of Grupo Roggio, which also owns Metrovías) and Argentren took over the Mitre/San Martín and Belgrano Sur/Roca lines, respectively.[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] The company operated both lines until the government rescinded the agreement with the company in March 2015.[30][31][32][33]

Apart from Corredores Ferroviarios, other private company, Argentren S.A., was granted concession to operate the Roca and Belgrano Sur lines.[31][32][33] The contract was also revoked by the government in March 2015.[30]

On 20 May 1992 the government announced that all inter-city passenger services, other than Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata, would be discontinued on January 1, 1993, unless provincial authorities either agreed to assume responsibility for them or selected a private concessionaire to operate them on their behalf.

Provincial governments that took over the services to avoid closures were:

• Buenos Aires, establishing state-owned company Ferrobaires (1993 to present)
• Chaco Province operated trains through state-owned Servicios Ferroviarios del Chaco (1999-2010)
• Tucumán also operated a railway service to Buenos Aires to keep the line active. Services started in 1992 but ceased in 1997.
• Río Negro created its own company named Tren Patagónico to operate trains from Viedma to Bariloche[34] that had been under concession since 1993.

On the other hand, La Trochita was never privatised and closed in 1992 due to the lack of interest of private investors. Nevertheless, the line would be later reopened, being currently cooperatively operated by the governments of Río Negro and Chubut provinces.

Long-distance and tourist services granted to private companies are listed below: